Eurobasket 2025 Group C teams, players, and analysis

Spain is defending its European basketball crown at Eurobasket 2025. After winning the title in the last edition, the reigning champion is drawn into Group C, where it will face Greece, Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, and Cyprus . Scariolo 's team will need to be at their best to finish in the top two and have a strong lead in the round of 16.

La Familia is not at its best in preparation after losing five of its six friendlies, only beating the Czech Republic (87-73) in the City of Malaga Tournament. In these matches, the result is usually the least important factor, but they have served to highlight the weaknesses of the team, which is in a rebuilding phase and is not among the clear contenders for the trophy.

Furthermore, the losses suffered, before the list ( Sergio Llull, Alex Abrines, Usman Garuba or Juan Núñez ) or after ( Lorenzo Brown, Alberto Díaz, Alberto Abalde or Eli John Ndiaye ), have further diminished the potential of a team where shot generation seems to be its main problem.

These losses leave the Hernangómez brothers Willy and Juancho as the team's key leaders , with the former looking to make a name for himself after a difficult year with Barça and the weight of having been the MVP of the last Eurobasket. The latter is more experienced due to his demanding role at Panathinaikos, where his second season has been quite positive. The star player will be Santi Aldama, the only NBA player in the group .

The main obstacles are the national teams of Greece and Italy, the biggest threats to achieving first place, especially the team led by Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo .

The Milwaukee Bucks power forward comes to this Eurobasket looking to win his first medal with the national team. The two-time NBA MVP (2019 and 2020) is in great form , as he demonstrated in the last warm-up game against France, in which he scored 20 points in 21 minutes, although he couldn't prevent France from winning.

As usual, Olympiacos and Panathinaikos represent a large part of the group of players trained by the legendary Vassilis Spanoulis , who is looking to return his country to a continental podium 16 years after the bronze in 2009. The coach of AS Monaco, current Euroleague runner-up, has great companions for Antetokounmpo such as Kostas Sloukas, Kostas Papanikolaou or Tyler Dorsey , but one of them will not be veteran point guard Nick Calathes, who will miss this Eurobasket due to injury.

Despite all these fine players, Spain has already beaten two-time European champion Greece, the second time in two decades. They did so in the group stage of the last Paris Olympics (84-77) , although it wasn't enough to reach the quarterfinals.

The other candidate to fight for first place is Italy, which counts Miami Heat player Simone Fontecchio as its main player . Gianmarco Pozzecco leads a team that includes the naturalized Darius Thompson and Gabriele Procida, new signings from Valencia Basket and Real Madrid, respectively, and that also boasts battle-hardened veterans like Danilo Gallinari and Nicolò Melli.

These elements make the Italian team a tough team to beat, one that will put up a great fight against all its opponents, although its inconsistency sometimes weighs on its shoulders. Furthermore, the two-time continental champion hasn't won a medal at a major event since its Olympic silver in 2004 and hasn't entered the Eurobasket medal race since its bronze in 2003.

Spain's first opponent will be Georgia , which, with Shengelia likely out, will have Goga Bitadze (Magic) as its main offensive weapon. The Orlando Magic player will form a strong center duo alongside La Laguna Tenerife's Giorgi Shermadini and fellow NBA player Sandro Mamukelashvili (Raptors), while the naturalized Kamar Baldwin, formerly of Baskonia, will have to shoulder a lot of responsibilities in the outside spots.

Meanwhile, in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the absence of Dzanan Musa is a huge problem for Adis Beciragic . Charlotte Hornets center Jusuf Nurkic will have to shoulder much of the offensive load and minimize the defensive burden, an area that has been his biggest weakness in his recent years in the NBA.

Finally, there's the Cinderella and host of the group, Cyprus, in what will be its first-ever Eurobasket. The star of the team is naturalized center Darral Willis , who will try to achieve the difficult goal of at least one victory within the group.